Into the Wild
by SSJL
Summary: A case in the middle of nowhere.  A rustic cabin. A bug.  A scheme.  All in all, just a sweet little piece of fluff.  Read it?  Review it?  Love it!


**A/N: If you are a fan of the story "Talk to Me," don't worry…I'm still working on it! This little one-shot just popped into my head last night and held me at gunpoint until I promised to write it down. Just a cute little bit of fluff, mostly—hope you enjoy! To all, please read and review.**

**

* * *

**

It had been a ridiculously arduous day, working on a somewhat grim assignment. The got a call early in morning: several skeletons had been discovered by hunters in a remote wooded location, and would Booth and Brennan be willing to come out and take a look? Unfortunately, the authorities in the area would not be able to provide them with transportation…when they said remote, they meant _remote_. It was not accessible by ground vehicle or chopper, and it would take a little legwork, both to get to the site and to somehow get the bones back to civilization. Oh, and since there would not be enough equipment on site to do quick and accurate identifications, could they think of another possibility to get a good description of the victims pre-death? Because that would be great. They would even put them up for the night in a hunting cabin near the site, for their trouble.

So, this was how Temperance Brennan, Seeley Booth, and Angela Montenegro ended up trudging with a guide through the forest for…count them…_four hours…_just to get to the site. Dr. Brennan would try to determine the cause of death. Agent Booth would investigate the crime scene. And Angela would do her best to create composites of the victims based on the facial structure of the skeletons, hoping that the drawings would give some evidence as to whom the bones had once belonged. Angela had tried to drum up some optimism for the trip… "Hey, at least it gets us out of the lab and into nature for awhile!"…but after several hours of maneuvering through a forest that felt as dense as a jungle, even her enthusiasm had quickly waned.

Once at the site, they quickly and naturally fell into their roles. Before they even knew it, several hours had past and dusk was approaching, the thick foliage creating an early nighttime. They did not have enough artificial light to work into the night.

The warden interrupted their work. "We'll get 'r all finished by tomorrow, I'd imagine, and be ready to pull out. Me 'n the guys are gonna set up our tents 'n get ready for evening. But _you _folks…you get the royal treatment." He gave a toothy smile. "Let me escort you to your castle." The trio looked at one another uneasily, then gathered their equipment and followed.

After a short walk, they came upon the cabin. The warden stopped. "Whaddaya think?"

"It's very...rustic." From Angela, trying not to grimace.

"Bucolic, really." Dr. Brennan.

"It's perfect," announced Booth. He started again towards the cabin. "Thanks so much, Warden."

Inside, they got the grand tour. "Here'll be your living quarters. Kitchen over there…you brought your own food, didn't you? Good. Two bedrooms're in the back. One for the ladies, and one for the gentleman. Or however you choose to divide that up, I s'pose."

"That's right," Dr. Brennan said quickly.

"No 'lectricity, so there are some kerosene lamps around, and you gotch'er flashlights."

Angela looked around uneasily. "Um…where is the…?"

"The powder room?" The warden grinned broadly. "There's an outhouse out back. No runnin' water, I'm afraid. There is a pump out back by the outhouse, though, if you wanna warsh up."

"Fabulous," Angela murmured.

"If y'all need anything, we'll be right out there by the site. But don't worry. If there're any critters wanderin' around, they'll get to us in the tents first." He winked.

"Thanks for your hospitality," said Brennan, with a forced smile.

"Any time, miss. You all enjoy your night." He ambled out the door, whistling along the way.

Booth wandered back to look at the bedrooms. Angela and Brennan looked at one another.

"Welcome to the castle, Ange," Brennan said.

"Yeah. The throne is out back."

They burst out laughing. Booth came out, grabbed his backpack, and threw it in one of the rooms. "I call this one."

"Why? What's wrong with the other one?" Angela asked.

"I'm sure they're equally hideous," sighed Brennan. "It doesn't matter. I'm sure I've slept in worse places." She gathered up her supplies and took them into the other room, and Angela followed suit. They began to unpack the few personal possessions that they had brought along.

"What a day. The humidity really gets to me," Brennan said, wrinkling her nose. She tossed her pillow onto the bed, undressed, and pulled her pajama shorts and tank top. She then slipped her shoes back on. "Think I'm going to go out back and check things out."

"Brave girl! The first one. If there are any raccoons or squirrels or bears in the outhouse, will you take care of that for us? Just give it a roundhouse kick to the face or some kind of karate chop or something."

"I'll do what I have to do," she promised solemnly.

On her way out, she poked her head into Booth's room, where he was unpacking as well.

"How are you holding up?" she asked.

"I'm not, really. You think you're in shape, and then you spend a day hiking and bending and squatting and are suddenly acutely aware of the muscles that you never use."

"Me too." She stretched her back and yawned. "I think after we get everything set and cleaned up, we're going to turn in."

"Good idea." She turned to go. "Hey, Bones?" She turned back. "I'm really glad you're here. Makes me feel safer."

She gave him an amused smile, then left.

Using her flashlight, she walked carefully down the small bank to the outhouse. She creaked the door open. Cobwebby, but she was right…she had definitely been in worse places. Once she was finished, she went to the water pump. She gave it an experimental pump and felt the water that came out. Freezing. Luckily, it was a warm night, because she wasn't going to go to bed without washing up unless she absolutely had to. She carefully laid the flashlight on the ground, out of the splash zone. Lifting her shirt over her head, she knelt in her bra and began rinsing herself off. Goosebumps immediately formed, but the clean water on her skin still felt somewhat refreshing.

She heard the crunching sound of somebody walking out of the cabin, and she paused. "Yo, Bones…you out here?" The beam from a high-wattage Mag-Lite was suddenly on her like a spotlight, blinding her.

"Oww! Booth!" She shielded her eyes..

"Sorry!" He directed the beam a little to her right, so it wasn't right in her eyes. "Oh…you're taking a bath."

"Yeah." Her vision slowly returning, she squinted up at his shadowy form. "It was so hot and sticky today, it feels good to rinse off."

"How's the water?"

"Really cold." He was still standing with the light on her. He was staring. "Booth? If you don't mind?"

His reason returned to him. "Oh! Sorry." He snapped off the flashlight. "Um…I'll wait until you are done." He hightailed it back to the cabin.

She shook her head and smiled amusedly, as she finished her pseudo-shower. She brushed her teeth (with only water, but it was better than nothing), dried off and redressed, then climbed up the bank to go inside. Booth was in his room with the door shut. In her own room, Angela was lying on the bed with her sketch pad, adding some details to her work. A kerosene lamp burned on the nightstand. She glanced up as her friend entered. "Did you scare Booth out there? He came in looking like a deer caught in the headlights."

"Embarrassed him, more likely. He caught me rinsing off outside with my bra on."

"Ooh la la," Angela said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Don't start, Ange." She peeked around the doorway. "Boo-ooth. I'm done. It's all yours," she called loudly.

"Got it!"

She shut the door to her room again, and reached behind her, under her tank top, to unhook her bra.

"It's kind of creepy out here, don't you think, Sweetie? So close to where all these people were killed."

"Lots more people than this are killed everyday in D.C. It just seems creepy because it is so quiet and peaceful around her. You don't expect things like this to happen." She slid into the bed under the covers, beside her friend. She heard the screen door slam as Booth went outside.

"I guess so," said Angela. "At least we have a big strong man to protect us, huh?"

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Funny. The big strong man told me that he felt safer having _me _around."

"Well then, you can both protect _me. _And I'll find some other way to make myself useful."

Brennan closed her eyes, surprised at how tired she was. She barely noticed the slam of the screen door as Booth came back in, or Angela sliding out of the bed to go do her great-outdoors version of her nighttime rituals.

She was pretty well on her way to dreamland by the time Ange came back into the room. Her friend changed into her bedclothes, then moved to climb in bed. She was about to turn off the lamp when something caught her eye.

Brennan felt a hand clamped down on her arm, jolting her out of her near-sleep. "Oh my God, Brennan," she whispered. "Look at that."

She opened one eye, and followed the direction of Angela's pointing. A large millipede was lazily making its way across the ceiling.

"It's just a bug, Ange. Let's go to sleep."

"That's not just a bug. That's some kind of mutant."

Brennan closed her eyes again. "Just close your eyes for a few seconds, and by the time you open them again it will have probably crawled away."

Angela closed her eyes, and counted slowly to ten. She opened them. The millipede was on the ceiling directly above the bed.

She let out a screech that could have woken the dead and leaped from the bed, barely missing knocking over the lamp.

"Oh my God Angela," Brennan moaned, covering her face with her pillow.

Booth came bursting in. "What! What's wrong? What happened?" He was wearing only his boxers and was bleary-eyed. Apparently, trying to sleep as well until the Great Bug Hysteria of 2007 broke out in their room.

"_There is some kind of huge thing on our ceiling and it needs to be out of here!" _Angela tore a piece of paper out of her sketchbook and jumped onto the bed.

Brennan peered from around her pillow with one eye. "What are you doing now?"

Angela approached the bug gingerly, with a half-disgusted, half-terrified look on her face. After a second of apparently gathering her courage, she slipped the piece of paper up towards the bug. Then, with another shriek, she flipped it off the ceiling and onto the floor at Booth's feet.

"What the hell?" He yelped and jumped backwards. The millipede began to scuttle away. Angela squealed and leaped over Brennan to the other side of the bed.

"_For the love of God get it!"_

Booth grabbed the first solid object he could find. He slammed it on the floor, once, twice. The millipede feinted to the left and right. The third swing came down solidly on its target. Squish. Angela made another distressed sound.

He was breathing heavily from the chase. "What's wrong _now? _It's dead!"

"That was my _shoe. _There are bug guts all over my shoe!"

"Geez, Angela. It was just a friggin' millipede. It wasn't going to hurt you, dead or alive."

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't you give me that. You were afraid of it too!" She pushed her hair out of her face. "It was the size of my fist, and it was on the ceiling. Do you know the only reason a bug that size would be on the ceiling? So it can jump on my head and lay eggs in my hair and _bite chunks out of me while I'm sleeping!"_

He had to bite back a laugh. He couldn't believe that Brennan was staying put, arm across her eyes, trying to sleep, while all this drama was unfolding.

"Well, is it better now?" he asked. "Can I go back to my room now?"

Angela's eyes widened. "Ooohhh, no." She jumped back to her own side of the bed, giving the spot where the bug was crushed a wide berth. "I will _not _wait here until that thing's husband or brother or mother or whatever it is comes back here to get revenge on us for smooshing its loved one." She grabbed her pillow, and marched out the door, squeezing past Booth on her way.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sleeping in the other room!"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Nope!" His pillow came flying out the doorway from inside the room. "_You're _the big strong man. You can sleep in the mutant insect room." The door slammed shut.

Dumbfounded, Booth looked over at his partner. Amazingly, she was still lying with her eyes shut, not budging.

"Well are you going to go with her?" he asked.

"Are you _kidding _me? I'm exhausted. I am not risking a repeat of that type of freak-out again."

He looked at her indignantly. "So you are seriously going to make me go out there and sleep on that disgusting couch?"

"Stop being dumb, Booth." She rolled over. "Get into bed and turn off that damn light."

He cocked his head doubtfully. "Are you sure?"

"Booth!"

"Okay, fine." He picked up his pillow from the spot Angela threw it. He walked over to the bed and laid it down. Climbed under the covers gingerly. Laid there for a moment, a little uncertain about what to do.

"Booth. The light."

"Oh." He turned off the flame in the lamp. "How can Angela be with Hodgins? He's all about bugs. And she sees one in a cabin, and loses all control?

She wasn't really listening. She shifted, curling up in a ball. "Night, Booth. Sweet dreams."

Yeah, freakin' right. Dreams were a _long _way off for him. He laid awake as her breathing gradually got deeper, more rhythmic. Was awake while she began to murmur in response to something in her dreams. Awake as she wriggled, changing positions, and snuggled her bottom so it fit firmly into his hips, and her back pushed into his chest. Oh, he was so going to _kill _Angela. When day began to break, he finally dozed off due to sheer exhaustion. Both from the previous day's strenuous activities, and also from the strain of being aroused _all night long. _

_

* * *

_

He woke to the sound of the phone ringing. He blinked blearily, and looked at his watch. 7:30 a.m. Brennan was gone from beside him, probably already back at the site working. He picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Booth? Hey man. It's Jack. I just wanted to get an time estimate on when you'd all be back with those bones. We just want to make sure the lab's all set up.

He rubbed his eyes. "Uuh…well…it'll take a while to finish up…and forever to get out of this jungle…and…uumm. Actually, I really have no idea. Gonna have to get back to you.

Hodgins whistled. "Dude, you sound terrible. Long night?"

"You could say that. Your girlfriend threw a fit about a bug in the bedroom and refused to sleep there. She commandeered _my _room, and I was the one who had share bed."

"Really," Jack drew out. He paused. "What kind of bug?"

"I don't know the scientific name. Do you understand 'millipede'?"

"Yes," he said indignantly. "Well, that shouldn't have been too bad. I hear that Dr. Brennan's a snuggler."

"Tell me about it," Booth said through gritted teeth. "Anyway, I'll get back to you once I talk to the rest of the crew."

"Alright. Take care. Give the girls a kiss for me."

"Shut up, Jack."

"Later."

He hung up.

Booth groaned and dropped back on the bed. It was going to be another long, long day.

* * *

The next morning, Angela was one of the first in the lab. Despite the long hike back the day before, she felt fairly fresh, invigorated. Yes, it had been nice to get out of the lab, and back into nature for a while.

She walked to her office and booted up her computer, set to program in some new graphics that would help her with estimating body weight and shape by analyzing the pressure on the bones. As she was about to sit down, a movement in the corner caught her eye. She looked. It was a beetle. A particularly ginormous one, too. Her eyes widened.

She crept over slowly, so as not to frighten it away and possibly run under her desk. She lowered herself very, very gently beside it. Her hands shot out.

"Gotcha," she whispered, cupping the creature in her hands. She raised it up, almost to her nose. It regarded her with multifaceted eyes. "Where do you think you were going? The lab's no place for you."

She walked the insect carefully through the lab and out the automatic doors, into the open air. Kneeling down in the grass, she allowed the beetle to trundle down her finger and onto the ground. She smiled. "Be free, little guy. Go into the wild."

In her kneeling position, the first thing she saw was a set of shoes. Her eyes traveled up slowly until they came to an amused set of blue eyes, smiling at her.

"Hey gorgeous."

"Jack. I missed you." She arose, looking him in the eye.

"So," he said. "Rumor has it that you are scared of bugs. Terrified."

She shrugged, innocently.

"You know, everybody thinks you are so sweet and nice. But only I know how wicked you can really be."

She grinned. "I guess I'm a little bit of everything."

"I guess so." He kissed her, and they walked arm in arm into the lab.

"Can't blame a girl for wanting her own bed, can you?" she asked.

He chuckled, anxious to hear about the rest of his friends' adventure in the wild.

* * *

**A/N: See that review button. It's beckoning you. Seducing you. You can't get away…you want to press that button too badly. Give in! Give in to the passion!**


End file.
